TOWN OF LOCKPORT — A Lockwood Drive woman trying to find a job ended up $2,000 poorer — and still without a job.

The woman told Niagara County Sheriff's deputies on Thursday that she had responded to an advertisement on Craigslist looking for a cleaner. She said she spoke to a man by phone who said he had work for her in the Lockport area cleaning large homes. He said he was sending her a check for $1,950 for cleaning supplies and to cover her pay for the next several weeks.

The woman told patrol that she received a check in the mail on July 9 for $1,950 made out in her name from a company in Hermitage, Pa. Along with it, she received instructions to deposit it into her bank account and then put the money into a Chase Bank account with a routing and account number she had been provided.

The woman said that she spoke to the purported employer and told him that there is not a Chase Bank in Lockport. She was then instructed to sent the $1950 by Western Union to an Oklahoma address, which she did on the same date after depositing the check into her credit union account.

On Wednesday, the woman was inside her bank when the teller said that they need to speak with her about a problem with her account. She was told that the check she deposited had insufficient funds and that the check had bounced. She now owes her bank the $1950 along with a $30 fee for the bounced check.

The bilked woman said that her son texted the purported employer who "played dumb and said the check was legitimate."

Patrol advised the woman not to have anymore contact with the man and informed her that she was the victim of a scam.